School funding could be in trouble - Again

After nearly four hours of civil debate, the Texas House of Representatives tentatively passed a health care savings bills, which included 29 amendments.

But on Thursday it may be a different story with another bill. There are already signs that a proposal that would help fund the more than 1,000 school districts in the state may be in trouble.

In a column the political newsletter Quorum Report published on Wednesday, Bill Grusendorf, Executive Director of the Texas Association of Rural Schools, basically says that under Senate Bill 1 - which Lubbock Republican Sen. Robert Duncan authored - rural schools would be shortchanged.

"SB 1in its current form would make uniform cuts to school districts regardless of whether that district is funded by the state at a very high or very low level," Grusendorf wrote. "It could underfund schools in years when the state's estimates of enrollment growth or property values are inaccurate - something school districts have no control over."

Grusendorf's column is taken seriously because of his position and because in the regular session 16 House Republicans, mainly from East and North Central Texas, joined 47 Democrats in voting against SB 1811, the predecessor of SB 1. The final vote was 84-63.

Moreover, the filibustering of SB 1811 in the Senate on the night of May 29 is what triggered the special session. None of the House Republicans from the Panhandle/South Plains delegation voted against SB 1811 on May 29 but now it's a brand new bill in a special session and anything can happen.

enriquerangel is responsible for this content, which is not edited by the Lubbock Avalanche-Journal.

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Once again school administrators are complaining that if they don't get what they want, they are "underfunded." They are using kids as human shields to protect their past wasteful spending instead of taking cuts like every other company and program is doing in the country. They don't seem to understand that the economy is tanking because of exorbitant state and federal spending, and education is at the top of the list.

200 School Supers have a larger salary than the Governor of Texas. Year after year, we have given the schools more and more money. They have failed due to their very liberal, progressive idealogy. So sorry Charlie, everyone else get's their budgets cut. Time for the "educators" to get some skin in the game.

The teachers that my children have had in Lubbock have reflected the community they served. They been as diverse as any random group of citizens would be. Some have been more effective than others. But they have all been responsible, hard-working, dedicated professionals.

This budget fight isn't over superintendent pay. It's over teachers' jobs, and the very idea of public education. We need these teachers. They earn their salaries, and then some, and they deserve our respect and our gratitude. Quality public education is one of the pillars on which our society, our culture, and our economy is built. Destroy it and the rest will come down. No middle class, no social mobility. It is hard not to think that this is exactly the outcome some people want.

Bleat about over-paid administrators if you want. Go ahead and cut their pay. They don't matter and money involved is trivial. But don't pretend this is about 200 people who make more than you think they should. if you are declaring war on the middle class, you should have the integrity to come out and say it.

After reading many responses from Lord Humongous on posts, I can only imagine what his parent’s basement looks like. Maybe 2 TV’s tuned in to Fox news, posters of Glen Beckett and Sarah Palin at the last supper with Jesus? His stance on EVERYTHING seems to be the word vomit that comes out of Fox news and or any conservative with an agenda. I'm not sure if you are bashing the Texas Education system, which is 90% made up of middle class, or if you are stating your discontent with the "200" super intendants that make more than your beloved Rick Perry; so I will start with your bashing of the Middle Class worker. When you say that teachers should get their "Skin in the game" do you mean they should take pay cuts b/c Rick Perry refuses to raise the money needed to fund them? Do you feel that being ranked 42nd in the United States in education is something to be proud of? It's easy to get elected by saying that "I will not raise taxes" but is that reality? How can the national inflation rate be (let's be conservative) 3% a year, not be made to the education budget? If you refuse to raise taxes year to year then how can you afford the same thing a year from now? Our population is growing but the amount we spend on each child is going down because we are not considering raising taxes to compensate for inflation. (I of course am counting on the fact that your community college went over and that you fully understand inflation). These are variables that politicians do not seem to want to bring up because raising anything to un educated people doesn’t get you re-elected.. The education funding has absolutely nothing to do with social programs that you are drooling to cut so stay focused. Next is your hilarious to say the least comment on Rick Perry not being paid as well as school super intendants. I’m sure you are right though; the state provides even bigger mansions, food, travel, security and book deals as Rick Perry gets to those 200 super intendants. If being governor was such a rough job then why do people fight to get there? Do me a favor and ask Mr. Perry to wait for his version of Sarah Palin’s publicity tour and finish the job that he was hired for; it’s not his summer vacation yet. With all that said, there is plenty of waste that is being spent but if you have a program that is as large as the Texas Education System you will never be able to completely control it. Don’t let future children suffer because you think their lives are worth so much less than yours, give our children the better than what you had and hope that they become better people. When you become an independent you speak from your own mind, not someone else’s.

I would say it isn't an "underfunding problem" ,it's a "bloated administration problem". Why are all these educators saying they are forced to layoff teachers? And yet in Austin, they are running advertisements for more high paying 6 figure administrative positions? Texas classrooms are under assault from school administrators. Facing wise and necessary budget cuts, administrators are threatening to fire teachers, claiming the Legislature is making them do it .It is administrative bloat that is the real problem.

Why don't you ask the people like Dr. Karen Garza who make 6 figure salaries with benefits, about all your talking points? Why does Texas have a "1 teacher to 1 school employee ratio"? Why is it that the education budget automatically gets a percentage increase every single year.Does everybody else always get an increase in wages and salaries? The rest of us have to tighten our belts.